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Future Watch 2024
Our annual Future Watch edition is now 116 pages packed with info examining the prospect pipeline for each NHL club and counting down the top 100 prospects in the game. In our NHL Team Reports, you'll find scouting reports for the top 10 prospects for each organization. In addition, we take an in-depth look at two teams with the best systems: the St. Louis Blues and Detroit Red Wings. And we also have features on several of the game's best youngsters, including Matvei Michkov, Will Smith, Liam Ohgren and Adam Gajan.
STARS DON’T ALWAYS ALIGN
LOOKS CAN BE DECEIVING. You never see the Dallas Stars among the top-tiered teams in Future Watch. Ever. Yet they routinely churn out homegrown gems year after year. And you see them near the top of the NHL standings, seemingly year after year. Let’s take a deeper dive into why. And in the process, provide reason to believe that just because your favorite team doesn’t get an ‘A’ or ‘B’ grade in prospect depth doesn’t spell doom and gloom for the future. • Dallas rarely picks high in the draft and, as a result, has few can’t-miss future stars beefing up the system. Of its past 22 first-round picks spanning a quarter-century, Dallas has selected in the top 10 just three times (Scott Glennie eighth in 2009, Valeri Nichushkin 10th in 2013…
MAKING THE JUMP
HOCKEY TRADITION DICTATES that during NHL All-Star Weekend, players should decamp to sunny destinations to relax on the beach, swing the clubs or, in the case of Alex Ovechkin, ride a camel. Midway through his first NHL season, 19-year-old Adam Fantilli said he planned to stay closer to home. His older brother and former teammate, Luca, who’s now a sophomore at the University of Michigan, was headed to Columbus for a pair of games against archrival Ohio State. “That’s, like, two minutes from my house,” Fantilli said. “Hopefully, I can get my brother and a few other guys to stay the Saturday night with me so we can hang out a little bit. I never really get to see the guys anymore, so hopefully, the coach allows that.” He has the space…
JR. B ALL YOU CAN BE
THE OHL’S LONDON KNIGHTS have become one of the hockey world’s most proficient producers of top prospects since brothers Dale and Mark Hunter took over the franchise two decades ago. Their pro-style operation has attracted the best talent in the league’s territory, and high-end European imports have steadily signed on over the years to hone their skills with the Knights. Once the Hunters arrived, a previously moribund franchise – the 1995-96 Knights, who posted a 3-60-3 record, were one of the worst teams in major-junior history – began to transform, and elite players noticed. Americans such as Patrick Kane, Matthew Tkachuk (who had previously committed to NCAA Notre Dame) and John Carlson came on board, and the Knights became a power. Last year, London lost in the OHL final. This season, the…
Q&A Chris Zimmerman
W. GRAEME ROUSTAN: I’ve known you for a long time, and here you are, this is a Stanley Cup-winning franchise. I mean, that’s pretty good. CHRIS ZIMMERMAN: I started as an ad guy and found my way into sports, and then, interestingly, from Nike I found my way into hockey, which, obviously, as a former player, what more could you ask for? But it wasn’t, “Oh yeah, I’m going to get myself into hockey. I’m going to get the chance to work in the NHL.” I still pinch myself. I started in New York City and advertising and spent 11 years doing that, and I learned a lot. I mean, I feel like I learned the foundation of my whole career, which is all about brands and how you create relationships.…
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